The tea in the cup was warm, but the hall carried a hint of empty, cool loneliness.

Zanxing asked: “Master Ming Jing, are these words true?”

“Hasn’t the Little Princess already been to Yuega Mountain?” Ming Jing spoke softly, “At the Five-Wheel Pagoda, the Little Princess should have already noticed that Yuega Mountain’s spiritual energy was sparse, but in the past, Yuega Mountain was not like this.”

Zanxing frowned: “I thought it was because the Twin Life Buddha Wheel’s rotation required absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.”

Ming Jing shook his head: “No. The Buddha Wheel hadn’t rotated before Gui Yansheng entered the pagoda, and the spiritual energy began gradually decreasing not from the Five-Wheel Pagoda. Moreover,” he paused, “over these years, among the cultivators who came to the Five-Wheel Pagoda for training, there were quite a few sect masters. These people mentioned that compared to the past, their sect’s spiritual veins had withered considerably. At first, I thought it was coincidental, but as incidents accumulated, I discovered it wasn’t just one particular sect – many sects were the same. It’s just that spiritual vein matters are of great importance, so ordinary people wouldn’t mention them to outsiders.”

“But when I was on Gufeng Mountain, I never heard Master and the others mention this…”

Ming Jing said, “Little Princess, among the new disciples produced by the sects in recent years, few have as much spiritual root talent as in the past.”

Zanxing swallowed back her words.

This was indeed true. Looking at the Demon Extermination Army that Gu Baiying led, apart from a few decent ones, the rest were all misfits. Although Mendong said this was a trap that Lingxin Daoren had dug for Gu Baiying, Zanxing felt that the Chihua Gate disciples she had seen in Li’er Kingdom weren’t much better than those in the Demon Extermination Army. Perhaps it was because in today’s cultivation world, there simply weren’t many outstanding new talents to choose from. Once spiritual veins weakened and spiritual energy became insufficient, sect disciples’ cultivation would inevitably be hindered.

“Now, throughout Duzhou Continent, whether human race or demon race, all face the problem of gradually withering spiritual veins. Forget about ascension – in a few more years, when the spiritual veins completely dry up, both the demon race and sect cultivators will become ordinary people. If all remains peaceful, that would naturally be best, but if there are natural disasters or fierce beasts and demons appearing, I’m afraid it will brew a great catastrophe.” Ming Jing lowered his eyes, his tone also worried.

Bujiang’s brow also showed some melancholy.

First spiritual vein exhaustion – who knew what would come next? There was also Gui Yansheng, who was bent on destroying the three realms. If he made a comeback at this time, it would truly be adding frost to snow.

Zanxing said, “Mother…”

Bujiang looked up, showing a relaxed smile on her face again, comforting the two: “It’s nothing. Our demon race – even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. At least we have long lifespans, unlike those humans who have no strength to tie up a chicken. I imagine someone is more anxious than us right now. Just wait – I think it won’t be long before someone in the sects can’t sit still.”

“We’ll just take things as they come and see what happens.”

…

Perhaps because of that conversation with Bujiang and Ming Jing during the day, that night, Zanxing didn’t sleep very soundly.

In her dreams, countless fragmentary scenes intertwined, bit by bit entangling in her mind. In a white mist, she seemed to be floating and sinking in rolling waves. Countless tides battered her, dragging her toward deeper whirlpools. She struggled to lift her head, but couldn’t see any human figures around her. Heaven and earth suddenly became vast and empty, the water flow carrying her toward some unknown destination, heavy and magnificent like fate itself.

“Splash—”

She suddenly opened her eyes, sitting up from her dream with cold sweat beading on her forehead.

Mimi was sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed. The ghost lamps in the hall emitted quiet azure light, their weak flames seeming to have the ability to soothe hearts, gradually calming her wildly beating heart.

Xiao Shuang had dismissed the lamp-blowing ghosts. Ever since Gu Baiying arrived, to avoid misunderstandings, Zanxing had told them they temporarily needn’t come serve in the hall. Gu Baiying, Tian Fangfang, and the others still lived in the demon caves that Bujiang had arranged – whether this was Bujiang’s deliberate doing was unclear. The vast, long hall, which hadn’t felt lonely when it was lively before, now, with only her remaining, felt extraordinarily empty.

Zanxing looked up toward the window.

Outside was very dark – it was still a long time until dawn. At this hour, everyone had already gone to sleep.

But Zanxing couldn’t sleep anymore. She put on her shoes, got down from the bed, and took a sip of the cold tea from the table. She sat idly in the hall for a while, becoming even less sleepy, so she simply put on her outer garment and went out the door.

Outside, fine rain had begun falling again at some point.

There was still a paper umbrella that Xiao Shuang had left by the door. He was always very thoughtful. Zanxing bent down to pick up the umbrella, opened it, and went out the hall door.

The night was deep, and everyone had already gone to sleep. Only the glowing statues at the demon cave entrances emitted gorgeous and dazzling light. She held the paper umbrella in one hand and carried an azure lamp in the other, walking in the fine rain. If someone passed by in the middle of the night, they would probably be scared half to death.

There wasn’t a single person on the road. Zanxing walked to the gates of Heishi City.

The black currents of the Mingming River surged at her feet, as if taking one more step forward would swallow her entire being. The night was vast and boundless, and countless raindrops fell into the floating and sinking waves, unable to stir up even the tiniest splash. Zanxing stood by the river, watching for a long while, then suddenly reached to untie the Qiankun Bag at her waist and pulled out a large handful of demon pills.

She found a relatively dry rock to sit on and threw the demon pills in her hand into the river like skipping stones. The river waves quickly swallowed the demon pills. In an instant, huge waves rose from the center of the Mingming River, and from the whirlpool, a fish spine like a small mountain gradually surfaced.

The Black Dragon Fish had come.

Meeting again, Zanxing wasn’t as afraid as when she first saw it. She sat by the river and, with a wave of her hand, threw another large handful of demon pills into the river.

The water flow became wildly violent from the giant beast’s stirring, roaring as it rushed toward the person on shore. Yet just as it was about to reach the shore, it stopped and slowly receded.

Not knowing how much time had passed, the river waves calmed down. A large fish swam over from a distance, lurking beneath the water surface, revealing two enormous eyes that quietly stared at Zanxing.

“I’m not crossing the river today.” Zanxing smiled at it, “I came specially to feed you.”

The Black Dragon Fish gently swayed its enormous tail, water splashing up from a distance and landing a few drops on Zanxing.

It waited quietly by the shore, like a huge moored black ship waiting for a traveler about to board. Zanxing looked at the giant beast’s pitch-black silhouette and suddenly sighed, speaking softly: “Xiao Shuang said you’re a carp that leaped over the Dragon Gate from the immortal mountains. Since you’ve already leaped over the Dragon Gate, why haven’t you transformed into a dragon?” She didn’t know what she was thinking of, her gaze becoming distant, “The immortal mountains… what exactly are they like?”

The predecessors who had ascended to become immortals had already disappeared from the Duzhou Continent. The people remaining could only glimpse fragments of the immortal realm from ancient texts.

Thousands of confused threads, countless expectations.

The Black Dragon Fish said nothing, silently watching her.

A familiar voice came from behind, carrying some confusion: “Yang Zanxing, instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, you came to the riverside just to feed fish?”